The intersection of turning 40 and working like a maniac online for over 8 years has not been good to my eyes. Up until 3 years ago my eyes were perfect. Now? Not so much. So with the onset of becoming a legitimate adult, I got my first prescription a few weeks ago, and then bought my first pair of glasses at WarbyParker.

Therein a beast was unleashed.

For anyone who has ever had glasses, and especially if you like accessories, it's very hard to not buy more glasses. With brands like WarbyParker and other sites offering very inexpensive frames, it's never been easier to satiate this urge. As a lover of accessories, I understood immediately this may be an ongoing issue for the rest of my life. A good looking issue, mind you.

However, there was no try on option, and no images of models wearing them online. Naturally, I did what any social media strategist would do — I tweeted at WarbyParkerHelp wondering if they had images they could share. I had already engaged with them a few times on Twitter around my first pair, so I was pretty sure I would get a response.

@WarbyParkerHelp Will you have images of models in the clear Carmichaels? I'd love to see them on someone before I order...

But what I got back knocked my socks off, and as someone who works in social media it made me irrationally excited. It's such a great example of using social to drive home great customer service, sell a product, and engage with your community. I thought it was important to share it with you:

Very cool right? Just to give you an idea of the timeline; I asked this question late in the evening and received the tweet and video the following day, early afternoon. I thought it important to share this experience and video with you all because it's easy, smart, and such a great way to have fun with your community. I loved that they did the video so quickly, and made it especially for me. It sang to the customer service nerd I've been honing for 20+ years.
But here's what else it did: it made WP a sale immediately, and it solidified my brand loyalty. Not only did I jump at buying the glasses, I shared the video across all of my social media accounts. I have also since told everyone I know about it, and shared it with clients, and workshop attendees. This little minute and a half video, which took them no time, and no major effort other than shooting it and then uploading it to YouTube has made an enormous ripple effect across my networks.

Here's something else, they do this often, so you can't just say "Oh they did this because you work in social media and of course you would share it everywhere!" Because I know that is what you were thinking. ;) Check out all their videos on the Warby Parker YouTube Channel.

So what can you take away from this? How can you apply this sort of social customer service to your strategy? Have you done things like this? Would you want to? As always I love hearing what you guys think. Talk to me!